The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 104, No. 49, Ed. 1 Friday, June 18, 1999 Page: 5 of 12
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Friday, June 18,1999
This Week In Texas Historx
•_
9i
k A
Congressman Battles
For Veterans ’ Bonus
On June 16,1932, the U.S. House
of Representatives
echoed a Texas I
member’s call for |
cash compensa-
tion for veterans of
the First World
War. But a big and
bloody disappoint-
ment was in store
for the “bonus army" that had in-
vaded Washington
As a freshman congressman
from northeast Texas, Wright
Patman introduced a bill in May
1929 mandating the immediate pay
ment of the so-called "adjusted ser-
vice compensation” to the two
million doughboys that fought m
France. Why should the ex-soldiers,
who risked their lives to "make the
world safe for democracy," hive to
wait until 1945 to collect the thou
sand-dollar IOUs'>
Patman porn ted out that the rail
roads and war contractors had not
been kept waiting When they
whined about the money allegedly
lost due to wartime price controls,
the Harding administration
coughed up $3 5 billion, a giant give
away which added 23,000 names to
the millionaire roll
Patman’s main and most obsti
nate opponent was Andrew W
Mellon, the fabulously wealthy fin
ancier serving his third successive
president as treasury secretary
Appeals to reason and fair play had
no effect on the tight fisted tycoon,
who insisted the bonus would knock
the federal budget out of balance.
The Lone Star lawmaker re-
torted that Mellon had not shown
such fiscal restraint, when he re
cently refunded $2 billion in corpo
rate taxes. Special interests could
always count on preferential treat-
ment from the treasury watchdog,
while “the veteran crying for bread
today” had to be content with a
"promise of cake in 1945.”
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For nearly two years, the Repub-
lican chairman of the Ways and
Means Committee refused to bold
bearings on the bonus bill despite
repeated pleas from Democratic
Reader John Nance Garner of Texas
and four million petition signatures
When the bottleneck was finally
broken, Patman watched helplessly
as a gutted version of his brainchild
sailed through the House and Sen-
ate
Herbert Hoover denounced the
bonus as “a dole” and “a step to-
ward government aid to those who
can help themselves" before veto-
ing the measure But both congres-
sional chambers overrode the
presidential veto in resounding
fashion in February 1931
Less than a month later, Patman
renewed his fight for full and
prompt payment. In his comer for
this round was William Randolph
Hearst, the powerful publisher
whose big-city dailies ehampioned
the veterans' cause.
The Hearst papers were, how
ever, the exception to the ferocious
anti bonus backlash in the national
press The influential Literary Di
gesL for example, attacked Patman
and his supporters as “a bunch of
flag wavers who don't care what
happens to the country so long as
they get votes ”
As the debate in congress moved
toward a dramatic conclusion in the
summer of 1932, thousands of vets
and their families converged on
Washington The “Bonus Expedi
tionary Force" took up temporary
residence in a tar paper
shantytown at Anacostia Flats and
endured stifling heat and squalid
conditions in order to make their
presence felt.
Many congressmen resented the
public pressure, and a few nervous
Nellies actually feared for their
lives. Patman was accused of mo
bilizing the mob, when in fact he
cautioned against the occupation of
Washington because “such a move
would be damaging to our cause.”
After House passage of the
Patman package on Jun. 16, tension
mounted as the bonus army anx
iously awaited the outcome in the
Senate. Compromise was again the
name of the game, and the piece
meal process produced a watered
down substitute that bore little re-
semblance to the original.
In the meantime, militant veter-
ans moved into vacant government
buildings on Pennsylvania Avenue.
District of Columbia police turned
the routine eviction of the squatters
into a needless melee that sent two
vets to the morgue and numerous
combatants on both sides to the
hospital.
President Hoover overreacted
and gave Gen. Douglas MacArthur
carte blanche to clear the capital of
the troublemakers. Tanks, horses,
bayonets and tear gas were used to
run defenseless men, women and
children out of town, and their
makeshift camp was burned to the
ground.
Patman expected more compas
sion from Hoover’s successor in
spite of his long-standing opposi
tion to veterans compensation. But
the Senate took Franklin D.
Roosevelt at his word and boy
cotted the bill forwarded by the
House in 1934
Patman tried again in '35, and
this time the bonus bill reached
FDR’s desk After he turned
thumbs down, the House had no
trouble overriding his veto but the
Senate came up ten votes short.
More representatives and sena-
tors than ever followed the
Texan’s lead in 1936. Roosevelt
answered with another veto, but
congress would not be denied
Wright Patman’s seven-year
struggle finally paid off for the
veterans of a war that had been
over for 18 years.
The Clifton Record
— Guest Editorial —
Caring Parents Should Become
‘Dinosaur Educator’ Advocates
¥ Ainosaurs don’t die; they just crawl away. Teachers who teach
I ithe importance of correct grammar are often called “dino
JLS saurs" by their colleagues who come from the “fed-good” school
of education, and the number of dinosaurs is dwindling in the pubbc school
classrooms of America
Teaching correct writing aid speaking is very tiine consuming, and it is
definitely hard work Students are so used to being entertained that it is
very hard to keep them focused on grammar instruction. Most English
teadiers would much rather teach literature because students enjoy the
stndy of various plots, characters and settings Teachers have fewer dis-
ciplinary problems to manage; and naturally, many teachers simply take
the path of least resistance
Another thing that complicates the teaching of grammar is that stu-
dents must keep up with their assignments because grammar is a compe
tency-based subject, students cannot skip any of the building blocks and
be successful
Students are absent from school so much more nowadays than in past
years; and to be successful grammar students, they simply have to keep
up with their make-up work.
Students are also more restless, more agitated, more disrespectful, more
irresponsible, more rebellious, and more irritable than in years gone by
Tteachers who have definite disciplinary policies and fixed deadlines re-
quire support from the administrators in order to enforce high standards,
and that is where difficulties can arise
The bottom line is that many achninistrators basically do not want to be
bothered with teachers' problems Administrators often look upon teach-
ers who are popular and who keep their students happy as being the “best”
teachers in the school. Never mind that often those teachers do not have
high standards of excellence; students can do what they want, when they
want, and if they want in those classes Consequently, those teachers very
seldom have any disciplinary problems or parental complaints; and this
makes the administrators very happy
Often times administrators have no idea what English teachers must
do to bring students to the point of being good writers and speakers In
fact, many times the assistant principals find themselves agreeing with
the students’ complaints. Why is it important to have a library book in
hand every single day? Why is it important to have the pre-planning as-
signments realty before students go to the writing lab? Why Is it important
for the students to come to the teachers’ detentions when the only thing
that the students did wrong was to talk during a grammar lesson or come
in tardy a zillion times? Why is it a "big deal” when the students choose
not to do their homework’’ Why must they make up the work they missed
when they were absent? What is so bad about being off-task when the
teacher calls upon students for oral responses? What is so terrible about
sleeping during a boring, old grammar lesson? Does one incorrect mark
of punctuation realty make an entire sentence wrong?
Another thing that complicates the teaching of grammar is modifying
instruction for the many labeled students — special education. Section
504, and at-risk. With so many students having IEPs and lAPs, teachers
are required to give them individual tests, write passes and send work for
them to do in content mastery, help catch them up with the classroom
work when they return to class late, read assignments orally to them, make
manipulatives which fit their needs, create taped and computer presenta
turns, duplicate separate sets of notes, and on and on.
Classrooms are constantly being interrupted with notes brought from
the office, announcements, students coming and going to content mas
tery, students arriving tardy to class or going to the nurse’s office, emo-
tionally disturbed students venting their frustration through negative
comments*arguments amangstudeotS, and minor to serious dferiplinaiy
protoemsMre*dt’whjch can tiudra positive classroom atmosphere into a
negative environment in a heartbeat
When teachers present an important grammar concept, they need to
lead students through the thought processes sequentially until the stu-
dents finally get to tne logical conclusion. So often teachers will lead stu-
dents through an analytical progression only to lose them at the critical
juncture when some student misbehaves or some interruption occurs.
If an English teacher is the conscientious type, he spends hours and
hours grading essays/tests at home because class time is spent in direct,
systematic instruction. Conference periods are utilized to hold ARDs, to
work with special education personnel on individual plans, to document
disciplinary problems, to dialogue with assistant principals about prob-
lem students, or to talk with parents who either do not want to be both-
ered or who do not want “Johnny 's” self-esteem to be hurt by a low grade.
For all of this, traditional teachers get little if any praise or thanks from
students, parents, or administrators. Many times fellow teachers believe
what the students say about these “dinosaur” teachers — that they are
the old “meanies” in the school Most of the time “dinosaurs” are not popu-
lar with today's students who tend to be rather lazy; many do not want to
be pushed and prodded. They do not want to have to meet deadlines; they
do not want to be forced to stretch Many of today’s students are excellent
manipulators, and they are very skillful at misrepresenting the truth to
their parents and to the administrators The truth is that the laissez faire
teachers, who go home at night empty-handed, get paid exactly the same
salary as the dinosaurs who spend hours explicitly grading students' tests
and compositions.
My advice to the public is this: Ifyour school district has any such dino
saurs left, be sure to request that your children be put in their classes. Be
the first ones in line to thank these teachers for their extra work and their
extra time which they spend teaching grammar. Submit positive comments
in writing to their administrators and then request that these notes be
placed in the dinosaurs’ personnel files. Take eveiy opportunity to say posi-
tive things about these teachers in front of your children and their friends,
school board members, school personnel, and the community
A word to the wise — old dinosaurs eventually get tired; and sometimes
they just give up and become mediocre teachers. When they and their
emphasis on explicit skills are gone, the schools will be left with a terrible
void. Many of these teachers would probably stay in the classrooms if they
were given proper support. Parents and community members who realty
care about the future of education should become “dinosaur advocates."
— Texas High School Teacher Donna Garner, Hewitt
5
Aminalse
By David Sung
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Smith, W. Leon. The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 104, No. 49, Ed. 1 Friday, June 18, 1999, newspaper, June 18, 1999; Clifton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth791292/m1/5/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Nellie Pederson Civic Library.